How To Make Money On YouTube

​​YouTube was started in February of 2005 and the main reason for its success was the fact that it allowed anyone to upload and watch an unlimited number of videos for free. Gradually as the YouTube grew they added new features, leaving everything free which helped to increase interaction by rating videos, subscribing, making comments or even create playlists. All these things changed the YouTube and nowadays it's a new type of social media by connecting viewers, creators, and advertisers from all over the world.

​​In this article, I want to talk about different ways on How to Make Money on YouTube. There are a lot of people who are interested in, but they still don't understand how the system really works. So with this guide, first I wanted to explain exactly how YouTube works and how people do earn money from it.

​Before starting the actual guide I want to make clear that YouTube is not a quick way to earn easy money, as everything in our life. If you really want to become successful on YouTube and earn a lot of money you should have a dedication and to be persistence, which means that you don't get successful or rich on YouTube by uploading a couple videos and hoping one of them goes viral. To make money on YouTube you should consistently upload a high-quality content and build up a large Fanbase. After you have gone this basic step then you will gradually notice that your videos will be ranking much higher in search results and you would be able to make some money. But first, you should understand basics how the platform works in order to effectively achieve your future goals.

Understanding the YouTube Ecosystem

​​For many people who are new to YouTube ecosystem, it's important to know how the platform works and enables creators to turn their passion into profit. Meaning that you can simply upload video to YouTube and turn your hobby into profitable enterprise while keeping your day job. However that not really the case and this doesn't automatically happen, so first we need to understand the monetization at YouTube which will definitely help you increase the revenue on your channel.

​Looking at the basic of the YouTube structure we have to keep in mind that there are four key players when it comes to YouTube monetization: Viewers, Creators, and Advertisers all combined into the YouTube platform. As YouTube's evolves company tries to keep the interests of each of these key players in mind. Meaning that from a Viewer perspective they want to create the best place on the internet where people could find and enjoy entertaining video anytime, anywhere. From a Creator perspective, YouTube has to be the only place where you would be able to produce the content and make sustainable revenue from. And finally, from an Advertiser perspective, YouTube should be a safe environment to reach your target audiences with measurable precision.

To put in the nutshell viewers around the world who can come to YouTube for entertainment or education purposes, or to find others that share same interests. At the same time, creators are producing content that viewers come to watch and the advertisers who want to reach their target audience fund this experience in return for exposure to their ads. So YouTube is the platform that makes all of this possible for everyone, but most importantly for free.

Different ​Methods ​to Earn Money on YouTube ​

​​​If you want to turn your creativity into a career and become a successful YouTuber you have to figure out how to monetize your channel. The main problem with beginner YouTubers face is the fact that they don't have a huge audience and millions of view on their channel, which makes it hard for them to earn any kind of money. So in this article, I decided to break down practical ways to make money on YouTube even if you have a small audience or channel and also share some advanced tips. Now you may have heard some of these strategies before, but I believe that in this guide you're going to learn some advanced tips and maybe find some creative ideas that you've never thought of before. The guide will mainly focus on YouTube Ads, Affiliate Marketing, Brand Deals, Merch/Products, Crowdfunding and other actionable stuff which can be found in the Navigation Bar.

First of all, it's worth noting that we need some cash flow to help us grow especially if you got a passion and you really want to make a difference on YouTube. I'm going to show you how to make money online with your audience as a content creator. These are not shortcuts and this is not a get-rich-quick scheme, which means that it does require you to build an audience and put a lot of work in. But the good thing is that those are real methods that I personally used and you can also apply to any type of platform whether you have a YouTube channel, website, social media page and etc.

​​Become a YouTube Partner

​Making money on YouTube really comes down to one thing and that is advertising. If you have a really big channel sometimes you can move to more of a crowdfunding or a sponsorship option instead, but for 95% of YouTubers, their monthly paycheck comes from advertisers who want to promote their content online. Currently, there are 6 YouTube advertising formats, but ​for the purpose of this article, I will focus on ​three most common ad types which are Display ads, ​Skippable video ads and Overlay ads. In case if you are interested in other formats you can always check the YouTube Help and find more information on ​YouTube advertising formats.

​As I mentioned previously there are three main types of ads and you'll probably recognize all of them. First, one is called Display ad, which appears to the right of the feature video and above the video suggestions list. Second, there are Overlay Ads, which appears at the bottom of the video and you can either click on them or press "X" to close. Finally, there is Skippable video ad which plays a video and they are around 30 seconds long, but for most the time you can skip them after 5 seconds.

​If you're new to YouTube make sure you do understand one thing, you don't get paid every time someone watches one of your videos, you only get paid when your viewer interacts with an ad.

​​A classic question which I got asked all the time is how much money I would be making on YouTube. I would say you should expect to earn anywhere from around $1 per thousand views or between $4 - $5. Again this is entirely subjective so don't hold me to those numbers. If you want to see more specific figures and how much other YouTubers are making I would recommend going to the site Socialblade there you'll find estimated earnings, subscriber numbers, historical graphs and all that kind of stuff. So that way you can get a better idea of how much the average YouTuber makes online in your niche.

​To be honest, the best way to achieve success on YouTube is to forget the money and just focus on making entertaining, high-quality content for your audience. As time progresses and more people starts to watch your channel you will be able to monetize your content, but first, try to concentrate on the videos.

​Sign up for AdSense via YouTube

​​​​If you already have a YouTube channel or a website, one of the most common ways to earn money is to use Google AdSense. Adsense is actually a great way to start making money of your following and traffic because you get about a $1 for every 1,000 views. Plus if you have a website or blog you can place Google Adsense banner ads and get money per traffic as well. So a good rule of thumb on YouTube is about $1 per thousand views, but you can definitely get more CPM (also referred as Cost Per Impression) depending on the channel, the niche and on a lot of other factors. In order to properly enable monetization on YouTube Channel, you can simply follow the step-by-step instructions below.

​Enable Monetization on YouTube

1

log-In To Your YouTube Channel Account

2

In the Channel Settings Tab, Select “Enable Monetization”

3

Accept the YouTube Monetization Agreement

4

​You will be able to Wee a Green Box With a Dollar Sign Next to the Videos Which are Eligible For Monetization

5

You Should Associate an AdSense Account To your YouTube Channel

​​Step ​2: "Enable Monetization"

Step 4: ​Eligible For Monetization

​To make your life easier I created a special calculator which will enable you to calculate estimated revenue on your channel based on the CPM in your niche. ​Now CPM vary and there are lots of variables, but just to give you some basic understanding it might vary from $1 to $5​.

​It's worth mentioning that YouTube Ads shouldn't be your top earner or your only source of income. Mainly because it might not be the most reliable source of income since you can't control whether Google decides to block your Adsense, but again it's a really good way to start earning money on your channel.

Use ​Super Chat in Live Streams

​​YouTube announced Super Chat feature in 2017, which allows you to showcase your donation and comment on the top of YouTube live streams. The system has already received a pretty good feedback from the community and the people seems to be really excited.

​Here is an example of what a Super Chat looks like and as you can see it basically shows your donation as well as your comments in highlighted color which stands out from the rest of the comment and can stay pinned for a certain period of time. It's also worth mentioning that YouTube is shutting down Fan Funding feature, meaning that new Super Chat would be a great replacement for the old system.

​​The nice thing about the Super Chat is that it's really intuitive and easy to use. In order to make a donation, you just have to hit the dollar sign, then fill your payment details and select the amount of money you want to donate. You can also add a comment and then hit submit. If you have ever made any purchase using Google's service, then the chances are that you have already added one of your cards to Google account, so you don't have to go through all these steps. You just have to pick the money you want to give and then simply add a comment to submit your donation.

​Also, it's worth mentioning that your donation will be highlighting and is going to appear in certain color and for a certain period of time. So the length of time that your Super Chat stays on a comment or thread is determined by how much you donate. Here is the table where you can find detailed information on different treatments depending on how much money you spend.

​As you can from the see from the table, there are certain Purchase amounts which determine not only the color and time in the ticker but also how many characters you can use in your message.​ It's also worth to mention that there is a daily limit of $ 500, and donations below $5 do not show up in the ticker.

​​Super Chat can actually add value to your channel if you are doing a lot of live streaming on YouTube especially gaming live streams. You can earn quite a lot of money if you have a sizable channel or something very special that you can offer to your viewers via Super Chat.

​Start Affiliate Marketing

​One of my favorite ways to make money on YouTube is by Affiliate Marketing. The real beauty of this technique is that you don't have to have a certain amount of subscribers in order to start making a lot of money, so it's always a good idea to try this method as well. If you're not familiar with affiliate marketing, it's basically the system which allows you to find a product or service that you can send your viewers to, and if they buy the product or service, then you are going to get a commission in exchange. Usually, it's a pretty simple technique that almost every YouTuber uses nowadays to make an extra money from their channel by simply featuring Amazon links in the video description.

​So in case if you create a video on a Gaming Laptops you could link to a laptop which was mentioned in your video. Meaning that if a visitor clicks on that link and makes a purchase you earn a commission. The great thing about this system is that depending on the product you want to promote there's probably an affiliate program for it which already exists.

Nowadays the most popular affiliate program is Amazon Associates where you can simply sign up for and then search for the product you want to sell and create custom links, which then you can put it in your video description. So the real advantage of Amazon affiliate program is that you can earn money form various products, even from those products which you have not talked about in the video. The idea is that if someone clicks on your link whatever they purchase you get credit for. The following is especially noticeable during the holidays because someone might buy a Laptop but also a PS4 for their family member which means that you are going to get credit for all of that.

​​Recently Amazon added OneLink feature, which means that you organize your link and earn commission for different Amazon stores depending on where the customer visits your YouTube Channel. This is actually a really big progression in affiliate marketing mainly because there is an international audience on YouTube. So if you already have Amazon Associates account and are looking into expanding your business, then OneLink will definitely help you.

​Get Sponsored With Brand Deals

​Brand Deals is simply one of the most common techniques to earn money on YouTube when you create videos for companies and brands in exchange for the price. Actually, this system is similar to YouTube Ads, but more secure, because instead of letting Google choose random pre-roll ads to put in front of your video you're working directly with a sponsor to figure out what product to promote or deal that you can do directly with them. Meaning that you have way more control in your hands and also a lot of responsibility as well.

Generally, it's pretty clear how the system works you would be rather given a free product which you have to review or the company might pay you a specific amount of money to talk about a certain product or service that the brand or sponsor offers. Plus you can also get a commission based on the sales which sponsors get from your audience.

​Do Only Big YouTube Channels Get Brand Deals?

​​One of the most common myths about Brand Deals on YouTube is that you have to have a huge audience in order to start earning money. Actually, a large follower base really helps, but it's not as important as how quality content you would be able to deliver. There are lots of examples when people with very few subscribers and videos were able to get a brand deal with huge companies in their niche. Even if we look at the recent studies we can clearly see that people are more likely to follow micro Influencer's recommendations, which proves that small channels have better opportunity to succeed on YouTube.

​Now as I mentioned before the good thing about this technique is that you don't have to have a big audience to work with brands or sponsors. Sometimes companies are looking for an enthusiast YouTubers who are willing to create sponsored video for their product or service which then they could use on their Social Media Pages. Meaning that you would be working as freelance content creator agent for new sponsors.

​YouTube Sponsorships for Creators

​So after you built up your audience base and you can guarantee a certain amount of consistent viewers on your channel you can look for sponsors to fund your show and make deals with them on monthly basis, where they can give you a certain amount of budget in order for you to promote their product or service. You can get started with sponsored videos at FameBit, Grapevine Logic, or through Social Bluebook. Now, with that said, there are barriers to entry for FameBit; you have to have 5,000 subscribers. However, that does not stop you from sending emails to companies that you think are a good fit for the content that you make.

​Sell Products and Services

​​If a brand or a sponsor is willing to pay you the money to promote their product in front of your audience, because it's obviously relevant and profitable then why don't you have your own products featured on your channel. Sometimes it's worth spending a couple of months or even years creating your own product or service which will help your audience because then you own the product rather than just taking a small commission or one-time payment. So before starting promoting others products, first think about if you can put the research and development into creating your own product based on the content you create.

​​In order to give you some ideas, it could be some physical product, digital product, membership site, or something similar. For instance, if you do a lot of Video Editing Tutorials people might contact you asking how much you charge for a specific video editing service, which means that you can start working on other projects and make money form it. If you have a channel teaching people about coding, you can offer coding as a service.

Even if you love traveling try to come up with a new guide based on the specific places you love to visit or the hotels you love to stay and trust me even though there are tons of similar guides people are always curious about what you enjoy most and which is your favorite location. In case if you are a musician you can offer writing new songs, or if you do live streams you can review someone's video in front of the community to get everyone's feedback and then use the Super Chat feature to take mini payments for that little consultation session. So the potential is huge to make a decent amount of money from selling your own product or service on YouTube.

First, consider what you want to do if a service is at the heart of your business and you really are looking for clients. Remember to take on very specific services and clients if you feel it's a good opportunity and fits your niche. Also as your channel grows, let the people know that the main advantage of hiring you. And remember, selling your product or service is only one part of this system as there are different revenue streams which you can mix and match depending on the what you're offering.

​Launch Your Own Merchandise

​​Have you ever thought about creating merch or products around your niche or your brand? For example, YouTubers who are good at painting and love gaming usually sell custom painted computer cases on their channels, digital products, accessories or even T-shirts. So there are many different ways to do merch and one cool site for this is Merch by Amazon. You just simply have to upload your artwork and set your price, Amazon will print and ship it. So you get the royalties, which could be a pretty simple way to build your income.

​Sometimes having your products featured in the YouTube video is great for one simple thing, you don't want to waste the valuable time on pre-roll advertisements playing before the video. Because you could offer potentially the better product and make more money rather than waste those 1-2 minutes on something which is not relevant to your channel. Especially when the customer is one click away from purchasing something on your website.

Merchandise does not have to be your logo or anything specifically about your channel at all. You can make any type of product that has a theme around the type of content that you create on YouTube. For example, if you make videos about electric cars, you can make an entire T-shirt store based on things that electric car enthusiasts would find funny or interesting in some way. The idea here is basically to know who is your target audience and then start making the merchandise around their interests.

Crowdfund Your ​Project

​​You probably heard about the website called Patreon, which enables you to launch a new campaign where people can support your goals and you will get money to successfully run your YouTube channel. But you should always remember that you have to put the value in your content and deliver the top quality video every single time. The main idea behind the crowdfunding service is that it's a great way to start your new business in case if you don't have sufficient funds to follow your dreams and buy basic equipment for your video production.

Moreover, there are other crowdfunding websites such as Kickstarter or Indiegogo, which also offer the same service where people donate money in return for something. All these services are extremely easy to set up, so in case if you decide to use one of them it would take just a couple of minutes to start your first campaign.

​Build an Email List

​People that are watching your videos are interested in a particular topic set. And because of that, you can grow an email list based on those viewers so that you can recommend things to them in the future. You can share industry news on what's going on in the particular niche that you happen to be operating in. And, you can tie this into affiliate marketing that I mentioned earlier. In case if you have the huge subscriber base you can target them to your online store to start selling your product using the email list.

​​The Summary

​If you really want to become successful on YouTube and live the entrepreneur's lifestyle you should definitely follow the YouTube income stacking method, which is going to help you combine multiple streams of income. The main idea is to stack different streams of income including YouTube Ads, Affiliate Marketing, Crowdfunding, your own Merch and Products, Brand Deals and other strategies. The final result would be that with some little income sources you would be able to grow your channel faster and to go from part-time to full-time YouTuber.

Once you've considered what those different revenue streams might look like in your particular case, then the only thing left to do is to start building your audience by creating high-quality content.

If there is any other strategy that you specifically like for building your income on YouTube post those in the comments below and don't forget to visit our site for more articles in the future.

Recent Posts

EDITOR PICKS

Amazon Associates Program

CinematicLab.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

*Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc., or its affiliates.